Dear Harriate
by Lou-deadfroggy
Summary: Two years is the mantra Beth uses to stop herself going crazy, something she may need to do more often when Netherfield is sold. Not all emails are a disappointment.
1. Chapter 1

**Dear Harriate**

… …

Dear Harriate,

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune, must be in want of a wife. This is what my Aunt has been telling me for years yet I still don't think it's true. It doesn't seem like two years ago some rich family moved in and you didn't give a damn about them.

... ...

"Hey Harriate, have you heard that Netherfield House has just been bought?" Probably not but it's a good way to start a conversation.

"Do I care?" No, she almost certainly doesn't.

"My Aunt's been beating me over the head with it all morning. Apparently none of us can go and meet them unless my Uncle goes over there first and introduces us." She looks up at me from her laptop.

"Your family still holds to the ideals of Regency Britain." Yes, thank you Harriate, I know. Rich men, marrying for money as soon as you reach puberty and social dances are some of the foundations of my Aunt's beliefs. It's pleasing to know that I'm only legally bound to do as they say for another **two years**. *Sobs*

"She's stressing out because Delilah's mum has gone to meet them, as she repeated seventeen times over breakfast. Seriously, I am going to start getting up earlier and have breakfast before she wakes up." Harriate paused the YouTube video she had been watching and pushed her brown mop out of her eyes.

"When Delilah moved here she wasn't fussed about meeting her, what's so special about these guys?" I heard footsteps in the hall but didn't move quick enough to close my door before my cousin Lilly burst in.

"He's rich! He's cute! And he's single!" she yelled. Two years left… Harriate stared at her, confused.

"Charlie Bedford, his parents just bought Netherfield House," I explained slowly.

"Ah. So?" Lilly rolled her eyes at us.

"So? He's in 6th form, loaded and is living just over there!" She pointed wildly over her head, incidentally the opposite direction to the main road and the more upmarket estate.

"Well that's great Lilly; please leave now before I suck out what little brains you have with my pipette." I love using words she can't understand. She glared at me before storming out.

Okay, I may need to explain some things. I live with my Uncle, Aunt and three cousins. Harriate lives next door and we've been friends for about forever. That may not be grammatically correct… On the other side is Amy, my sort-of-best-friend-for-ages and half-way down the street is Delilah. Nothing else really interesting to report so back to the story. Harriate was sitting on my bed and I was sitting on my window sill. The one thing I love about my room is that I have this really high window with a massive ledge that I can sit on.

"I gather that you are not overly thrilled by the prospect," she said.

"I don't give a monkey except that my Aunt is going on about it and my Uncle won't go to introduce should have heard them earlier." Yes, I know eavesdropping isn't nice but not hearing my Aunt is never really an option.

_"Just think of what an impression it would give, if we didn't go! How rude it would be! Their children are about to start at the girls' school with no friends! How nice it would be for them to have special friends in our girls before they even start!" Yup, my Aunt has a pretty loud voice._

_"My dear, you can easily go on your own. Take the girls or better still, send them out now to meet them. They're not even our neighbours anyway. If you want them to make friends tell them to go and take Harriate with them. God knows she's got more to say for herself than any of ours." That would be my Uncle; he wasn't really cut out to be a dad._

_"How can you say something like that about you own daughters? I suppose you'd rather the Bedfords took a liking to Beth too? I dare say neither of them are half as pretty as Lilly or as smart as Mia." Ah, maternal pride, endearing isn't it? Oh right, meet my cousins: Mia, Kitty and Lilly. Be glad you don't actually have to meet them. Two years…_

_"I think I feel a migraine coming on, the stress you put me under!"_ My Aunt does love her migraines, they visit her more often than Carol, Harriate's mum does and Carol comes for tea nearly every day. Well my Aunt's aim in life is to get her daughters married off to rich, successful business men as quickly as possible. My Uncle's aim in life is to wind my Aunt up. My cousins' aims in life are to marry rich, successful men. My aim is to go to University as soon as possible. Two years… I think Harriate's aim is to learn the entire works of Douglas Adams off by heart. Oh and watch every vlogbrothers video there is. She turned back to her laptop, leaving me to finish texting Delilah and wait for her to come over.

"Hey Beth, have you heard," Kitty began as she peeped around my door.

"**YES!**" we replied simultaneously.

… …

… …

**Author's note: I do not own P&P. Smile Res, Toad has had no input as of yet…**

A pipette is like an eyedropper for sucking up liquids in chemistry labs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

… …

"Harriate? Come over they're killing me." That's how pretty much all of our conversations start. Why not go over to hers? I am grounded, which means I am not allowed out of the house except under my Aunt's supervision. All because I spilt tea over her new dress. In my opinion the monstrosity was greatly improved with a good litre of Earl Grey down the front. She had to go to A&E for minor burns too… um… Anyway, Harriate knocked on the door three minutes later. Unfortunately, what promised to be an afternoon of her reciting Arthur Dent quotes to me and playing Truth or Fail was high jacked by my Aunt.

"Beth! Come here at once!" Great, I did something wrong again. Harriate followed me into the lounge or "parlour" as we're meant to call it. There sat my Aunt and my cousin Mia, looking bored out of her mind.

"Ah Harriate, nice to see you dear. Sit down both of you. Beth, I have a hat of yours here, take a needle and see if you can mend that tear. Harriate, be a dear and help Mia with the socks." I felt slightly guilty as we sat down, ready for hours of mending and sewing. I must admit, I am grateful to my Aunt for having taught me to sew, except mending socks is not my idea of fun. Just as it got dark, my Uncle walked in. He took one look at the three of us sewing and burst out laughing.

"I hope Charles Bedford will like your hat Beth," he said to me. Okay, to clear this up it was a purple felt beret that Lilly tried to take off me, not realising that I had a hairpin in it.

"Well we won't know what the Bedfords like if we never meet them!" Round one to my Aunt in the hysterical Olympics.

"Delilah's mum promised to introduce us at her garden party next week," I reminded her. Garden parties are big thing where we live, everyone seems to have one frequently.

"Bugger, when is it Beth?" my Uncle asked me. Yep, he isn't too keen on garden parties either.

"A week tomorrow." Harriate passed me a folded piece of paper with a printed photo of a dress on. Another good thing about being able to sew: nice dresses without spending too much pocket money. So we were planning on going as Shiro/Kuro twins. I always seemed to end up looking like a marshmallow.

"But it'll be so embarrassing! Having to be introduced by someone else and not knowing them of our own account! Well we'll have missed our chance of ever having the girls become friends with the Bedfords if Delilah knows them first." The fault in her logic was that if Delilah knew them, I was more likely to meet them. Oh wait, I don't count do I?

"Well, by us not knowing them we are in fact doing Delilah a favour and allowing her the opportunity to get to know them first. How very decent of us." No, I didn't quite follow that either but my Uncle beamed at us as if he had said something very witty. He hadn't.

"What do you think Harriate? Aren't we very decent to do that?" Harriate just stared at him silently, probably trying to come up with a Ford Prefect quote.

"While Harriate is thinking let's return to the subject of the Bedfords," my Uncle said.

"I've had enough of the Bedfords!" Yes Aunt, so had I.

"Well you could have told me this morning, I wouldn't have called on them." I could have hugged him right then, the look on my Aunt's face was brilliant. I didn't know she could turn that colour.

"You did what?" she screeched. Harriate and Mia carefully put down their needles and we made for the stairs.

"Isn't that what you wanted me to do?" my Uncle asked innocently. Apparently mood-swings aren't only for teenagers; my Aunt went from red with anger to as happy as me leaving.

"That's wonderful darling, I'm so glad you did. Now we can all go and meet them without any hassle. What are they like?" Okay so we stopped our departure at that point and stayed a while, we were curious.

"Oh, they're nice enough." Informative, Uncle thanks. Then we left, the three of us scampering back up to my room. Once there, Harriate and Mia sat on my bed and I retreated up to my window.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about. Money shouldn't replace love." That's the kind of thing Mia comes out with a lot. "Wealth is corrupting."

"So is love, that's sinful," Harriate replied. Not exactly true but it had the desired effect in making Mia pull out her bible furiously. I don't have anything against religion; I just think that you shouldn't ram it down other peoples' throats.

"When do you think they'll come round?" Mia asked suddenly.

"If they're sane: never. However if they're polite, we'll see them within the week," I answered. Harriate snorted, grinning. Mia got up and left, glaring at us.

"Do to others as," she paused, trying to remember the saying.

"Turn the other cheek Mia," Harriate told her. One point to Harriate. Yes, I am keeping count.

… …

We didn't have to wait long to meet the Bedfords, or at least to meet the younger ones. After being grounded for the whole first week of the holidays, I was allowed out on the Friday for a few hours. Harriate, her bright red jeans and cat hoodie (ears, stripes and mittens) leaned over our gate along with Amy. I bear a closer resemblance to them than to my cousins; all three of us have messy brown hair of varying lengths and large glasses. There the similarities stop. (Lilly's blond, Kitty has ringlets and Mia is sort of brown and blond at the same time)

Delilah met us at the corner and we walked down towards the town. We had to pass Netherfield House; it sits by the main road on a hill as if it were looking out from Mount Olympus at us mere mortals. That may be slightly over-dramatic but still, it is quite an imposing house. As we walked by we saw a guy in the garden, coming down the drive. Nothing really surprising, there are people living there now.

"I bet that's Charles Bedford," Amy gushed. Yes, she gushes, all high pitched and girly.

"You don't say," Harriate replied. Amy and Harriate don't get on for various reasons.

"I think he's cute."

"Amy, you can barely see him from here," I said. Basically he was about medium height and honey blond. Not much else to see.

"Maybe we should say hi," Delilah suggested. "To be nice." Nice, the perfect word to describe her. So by now the guy was nearly at his gate and we were just standing there, staring. Then they all looked at me. Great.

"Fine," I mumbled. At least I'll have something to say when Lilly starts going on about the Bedfords.

"Hi!" Well Delilah had told me to say hi.

"Hi, I'm Charlie." Well he seemed nice enough and okay-looking. More than okay-looking actually.

"I'm Beth. Delilah, Harriate and Amy." It may have been my imagination but he held Delilah's eye for a second too long. I mean she's really pretty and stuff, one of the prettiest girls in school but it took him a moment to turn to Amy. Maybe it was her dress, Delilah looks nice in floral.

"Nice to meet you. I hope I'll see you all at the garden dance next week." Dance? Bugger it's a dance. Wonderful. We smiled and walked off. The second he was out of earshot Amy began to giggle.

"He's cute!" she gushed. We ignored her as she gushed away for the rest of the walk.

"He seemed nice," Delilah said eventually. Harriate and I glanced at each other. We mimed vomiting but it was actually pretty sweet.

"Oh shut up you two," Delilah laughed, smacking us gently on the nose. Amy gushed away, none of us bothering to listen.

… …

**Jane is Delilah only because she's nice. That may be why Bingley isn't anyone in particular. I can't wait for Rosings! It's not Darcy I'm looking forward to…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

… …

I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked like a marshmallow. Shiro Lolita is a Japanese street fashion that has NOTHING; I repeat NOTHING to do with the book. Well, not unless you take a really in depth look at being childish and stuff. Basically I was wearing a white petticoat, white bloomers, white stockings, white shoes, a white Victorian-type dress, white gloves and a white bow in my hair. Did I mention I looked like a rather sweet marshmallow? Of course Harriate was dressed identically in black. See the effect we were aiming for? Garden dances are fun, for the first two hours or so. Everyone meets up in someone's garden (everyone has really big gardens around here) and we say how nice we all look (unless you're Aunt Philips, my Aunt's sister, who says everyone looks ugly except herself and Lilly) then we dance. Dancing's actually quite fun, depending on who you have as your partner. If you get someone you like, then it's brilliant and stuff (imagine prom every other week) but if you get your annoying second cousin who is WAY too clingy, it's horrible. Stop giving me that confused look! Okay, I'll explain my family; just don't blame me if it gets too confusing.

My Uncle (Mia's dad, the one I live with) was my Mum's brother. Got that? Good. You've had the joy of meeting my cousins and my Aunt. Her sister (not actually a blood-relation of mine) is Aunt Philips (helps to fit in if you call them what your cousins do) and her brother is Uncle Edward. Uncle Edward and Aunt Elise are the best part of my extended family; I get shipped off to them most summers. Aunt Elise also happens to be Delilah's Aunt so we skip the explanations and say we're related.

Told you it was confusing. Back to the dance.

So my Aunt and Lilly were upset because Delilah's mum said that Charles Bedford was bringing some extra guests to the garden party. In their minds this means cousins, eligible women and other girls who all usurp our (Mia, Kitty and Lilly's) places in line to be the next Mrs Charles Bedford. Personally, I'm not that fussed if he brings twelve girls, it just means that I won't get to dance as much (there are never enough boys it seems).

"You look fine, come on!" Harriate said, pulling on her Mary-Jane's. Kitty yelled at us to hurry up, seconded by my Aunt. It's hard to run downstairs in Mary-Jane's but we managed it and my Uncle, already weary from the fuss, ushered us out of the door. Two minutes later we were knocking at Delilah's front door. Her mum let us in; we were one of the first to arrive. The garden was done up with flower arrangements and fairy lights, looking pretty enough. The novelty wears off after a few years.

"Hello girls! Oh don't you look lovely! Harriate, your mother's over there." Did you think it was just my Aunt? No, no, it's everyone in Meryton. I think it's something in the water. We separated; Harriate and I made a bee-line for Delilah with Mia in tow. No-one was dancing yet, although music was coming from the speakers set up in the bushes.

"You two look so pretty!" she said, pulling on our bows and frills. We had spent ages making the dresses and getting everything else together so I guess we were mildly chuffed with that.

"Hey you look nice too!" I told her. She did, all floral and pastels and stuff. We just stood in the corner and talked until Amy joined us.

"You guys look so cool!" she gushed. Cool? I'm wearing **bloomers** for pity's sake, how can I look cool?

"People keep staring at me in this skirt but I don't even care anymore. They're whispering and talking about me but you know what? I'm just going to ignore them. They can say what they like about me." That's great Amy, just great. We listened patiently (apart form Harriate) then the dancing started. Three guys came over to us, probable trying to escape Kitty and Lilly.

"Hey Dee, you free for a dance?" Jack asked Delilah. The thing is, when you have to dance with the opposite gender nearly every fortnight, you don't get embarrassed about asking them. Andrew looked at Harriate quizzically and then bowed, doing a funny impression of some Regency gentleman. So I was left with Amy and Mia, waiting for someone to come along. A few minutes later Amy and I had joined the others in the first dance, all in one big circle with our partners. Over the next hour or so I danced with about half a dozen boys (please note that dancing with the same guy twice is practically the same as proposing unless they're your brother). At some point Harriate and I found ourselves alone by the speakers again.

"Still no sign of the elusive Bedfords," she said. I nodded, they hadn't shown up. "I speak too soon." She pointed to where the garden door had opened, revealing a small group of people. Charles Bedford, a man who could only be his father, a woman who I assume is his mother (genetics are pretty obvious sometimes) and two girls. Then two guys came out and stood next to them. Quite a large party for your first introduction. Delilah's mum, the host, hurried across the garden to greet them.

"Who are the others?" I asked Harriate quietly. She shrugged and nodded to Jack who came over to dance with her. I stood there for a moment before going off to find out who the Bedfords had brought.

"Oh hi there Beth," Charles said, popping up behind me. Poor thing, he looked absolutely petrified.

"Don't worry, they won't eat you!" I laughed, patting his shoulder. He grinned.

"Come and make it look like I know how to dance." Okay, that'll get some of the mothers off his back; they think that boys should be able to dance.

It turned out that Charlie could dance, quite well actually. He spent a song with me before I handed him over to Delilah. In the course of our dance I learned enough information to have a hold over Kitty when she cornered me.

"Who's the tall, cute guy?" she asked immediately.

"Charlie's best friend, Darcy. The other guy is his sister Louisa's boyfriend."

"Darcy? He's cute. Does her have a surname?" Here's the weird bit.

"That is his surname. His name's William Fitzmason Darcy. They just call him Darcy." Kitty stared at me, then craned her neck to stare at the very tall, very handsome dark-haired guy brooding in the corner. If you're invited to a party, at least talk to people, even if you can't dance.

"I'll ask Lilly, she'll know." Yes Kitty, your little sister knows all. She bounded off only to be replaced by my Aunt.

"Beth! There you are! Have you seen young Mr Darcy? I wonder if he has any connection with Darcy industries, oh I must ask Carol!" Darcy industries? As in the company that makes just about every type of aircraft/boat/space shuttle thing? The company that makes stuff for NASA? Wow. That is impressive. Nevertheless he's still being unreasonably haughty and aloof. I decided to go and get myself a drink, making sure that my Aunt could not trace me again.

By the tables it was a lot quieter. I didn't mean to but as I was pouring some coke I overheard Charlie calling over to his friend.

"Come on Darcy, I can't let you stand there and not dance!" Darcy didn't look too thrilled.

"I won't, not with any of these people. Besides, I don't even know any of them. There isn't a single girl here who would make a dance bearable." I'm not one to judge people (that sounded less big-headed in my mind) but he seems like a stuck-up git.

"That's mean; there are plenty of nice girls here!" I'm liking Charlie more every minute.

"You are dancing with the only good-looking girl here." Darcy looked over at Delilah, who was chatting to Jack. Okay, I may agree with him there in complimenting her but Harriate and Mia look nice too! Even Kitty is okay.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Hang on, there's one of her friends just behind you, let me introduce you to Beth!" Wait, what? No! I'm not dancing with him. Okay, drinking coke looks like you're busy and stuff.

"Who do you mean? Oh, her." Yes _Darcy_, me. "She's not pretty enough to even tempt me. Go back to your partner Charles, leave me alone." Well sod him.

Apart from Darcy, the evening was great. I told Harriate and Amy what he had said, and then watched Charlie dance with Delilah again.

…

My Uncle had gone home after about ten minutes so my cousins and my Aunt told him everything in great detail upon our return. He wasn't too pleased.

"Enough! I don't care about Carol's dress or how many times people danced!" Neither do I, Uncle, neither do I.

"Oh but young Mr Darcy! He was so rude to poor Beth! But don't worry dear, you haven't lost much. He is such a rude and horrible young man!" For once I agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I hate Sundays. I really do. Not because I'm left at home whilst the others go to church, or that I have to make up for not doing anything on Saturday, but because I have to do all of my homework in less than 24 hours. So after ironing uniform for ages, I sat down to the still legal from of torture that is maths homework.

"Beth?" a voice called from the garden. I looked out of my open window to see Delilah standing at the gate, maths book in hand.

"Door's open!" I yelled back. Moments later she was sitting on my floor, pulling out my calculator.

"Did you have fun yesterday?" I asked without looking up from my algebra.

"We did, Caroline is lovely and Louisa is too. We talked for hours. Enough about that though, what did you think of the dance?" She went over to the Bedfords' yesterday for tea.

"Your garden looked nice and Charlie was cool." Okay so why did that make her blush? "Delilah?"

"Oh he was very funny, and polite. Um, and sweet I guess," she mumbled.

"And cute. That's always a good thing." I didn't add: when the entire neighbourhood wants you to marry him. Delilah went another shade of red.

"I didn't expect him to ask me to dance so much."

"Well I did. I mean, you were the prettiest girl there by about a mile. I don't think he can be expected not to have danced with you several times. But he is really sweet, and he can even have a conversation! Imagine that, a boy who is cute and has more than half a brain cell!" She gave me a reallyBethyou' look.

"Okay, okay. Go ahead and like him Dee, you've liked worse boys before." I got hit gently in the face with a maths book by a laughing Delilah.

"In fact, I've yet to hear you say anything really mean about anyone, ever, and we've been friends since we were potty-trained," I said, absently trying to remember what on earth cosine meant.

"Judging people isn't nice, but I always say what I think about them." Tangents anyone?

"That's the problem Dee; you genuinely think that everyone's a saint. See, you even think that his sisters are wonderful despite the fact that they rather loudly insulted Amy's dress. Surely they're not angels too?" I gave up on maths and pulled my laptop towards me. Within seconds I was firing air bolts at goblins.

"Beth? Beth, stop playing RuneScape and listen to me! Carolina and Louisa are about to start our school, tomorrow. They've been at a really exclusive private school in London but their parents want them to get a taste of life or something. I'm sure you'd love them, they're really clever. Caroline was going on about poetry and philosophy. You know about Kant and stuff right? Then Darcy came in. He's Charlie's best friend, like us and Hari, although I think Charlie lets him decide most things. He said something really smart about an attached soul and then left. I think Hari'd like him." Die goblin, die! I picked up the random stuff the little green thing had dropped.

"Well they all sound terrific Dee, here comes Harriate." I can tell when she's coming, usually from the screech of:

"Harriate Slate! Knock first!" Her mum, Carol, is a great believer in knocking. So she knocked.

"S'open!" I yelled. I don't bother locking the door when the others are out. If someone nicks stuff, it's not my problem. Unless it's my stuff, which is all in my room, which I am in therefore will most probably not be burgled. My perfect logic has blinded you, I'm sure.

"Konnichiwa guys," she called before she'd even passed the doorway.

"I'm telling Beth all about the Bedfords; they were so nice when I went over yesterday. What did you think of Darcy?" A quick glance and a mocking snort of laughter came from Hari as she looked over my shoulder. So what, I was fighting goblins, is that wrong?

"Stuck-up, arrogant, don't look at me like that, Dee!" Harriate stuck out her tongue and curled up on my bed.

"Beth!" Amy called from the garden.

"S'open!" Should I just get a sign and tape it to the door?

"Oh Charlie Bedford was so lovely, he loved you Delilah." Now why had I let Amy in? I sighed and went back to killing goblins.

"He danced with you first, then Beth," Delilah said.

"Yes but he seemed to like his third choice best," Hari added. I let out a little hiss of achievement as my magic level went up.

"Did you hear what Darcy said about Harriate?" Amy asked suddenly. No, I hadn't. "He said that she was tolerable, as was her twin. You don't have a twin though Harriate."

"Tolerable? Well, he's nice. That stretches to you too Beth. Ha, Bethany Dale: tolerable."

"Harriate Slate: tolerable." Maybe it was because she was wearing a shirt that said 'Don't talk to me about life', or that I was killing goblins, but we both found it tremendously funny. Amy, who was neither wearing a Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy top, or killing goblins, didn't find it so funny.

"I don't see what you're laughing about. He was such a snob. He sat next to Joan Long for ages and only spoke to her when she asked him about Netherfield, even then he looked as if he was angry at her for talking to him. I think he might have found out that her father only owns a Fiat." Snob, Amy? Well you wouldn't know anything about that would you?

"Caroline said that he was perfectly nice to his close friends," Delilah piped up, not wanting anyone to say bad things about someone.

"I don't think he could be nice, if he was he would have spoken to Joan at least. I think he's too full of pride to talk to someone who drives around in a Fiat." Amy, what have you got against Fiats?

"I wouldn't mind it so much, if he had at least danced with Beth or Harriate," Amy continued.

"Oh no Amy, I'm sure I will never dance with Mr Darcy," Harriate said.

"Neither will I, YES!" Everyone stared at me. "Air runes! Thank you little goblin! What?" Three mumbled 'nothing's followed.

…

"The vicar was telling us about how pride was a sin," Mia said loudly at the table. I picked at my carrots half-heartedly.

"I think Darcy has too much of it," she continued. "What do you think about pride, Beth? Is it sinful?" Great, how many times do I have to have a conversation on religion with her?

"Sometimes. I guess being proud of who you are, your family and something you've done that's good is fine, but thinking you're better than everyone else is not; I'll ask tomorrow, okay?" She seemed satisfied. Sometimes I wonder why she doesn't just come down with me and ask the Rabbi all of these questions herself, I'm pretty sure he'd find it amusing. He's got an odd sense of humour.

"I think it's interesting, having you around to show us a different idea of God." That makes me sound like a lab rat under observation.

"Thank whoever that Beth's here, or else you would all drive me mad," my Uncle said. My Aunt glared at him. An awkward silence followed as no-one knew quite what to say. Lilly, for once, managed to say something at the right moment.

"There's an exchange group of cadets coming to school for the whole term!" she squealed suddenly. It took me a moment to realise that I wasn't excited.

"That's wonderful dear, oh how you girls are going to love having so many new faces around! Just think of how smart, eligible and well-off those cadets must be. Which school are they from?" my Aunt asked at once. Lilly and Kitty began some long ramble about a military school. I finished my carrots and went back to reading The Other Boleyn Girl under the table.

"Well this is wonderful. I may even see one of you get together with a nice young cadet, even if Delilah has taken Charles Bedford's eye. How inconsiderate of her, but never mind. I suppose she is family after all. If only you were more like her, Beth, I would be much more likely to try and get you a suitable match." Love you too, Aunt, just the way you are.

"I think that if I can get at least two of you well matched by the end of the summer, I will be able to look forward to Christmas. If Delilah is settled too, that will be the icing on the cake!" I wondered briefly if by two of us, she meant two of her daughters or if that included me. I hoped that Aunt Elise and Uncle Edward would be able to take me away for some of the summer. Maybe I could ask and see if there was a summer camp going on at the Synagogue, which would get me out of the way of my Aunt's matchmaking plans.

"Don't forget anything for school tomorrow," my Uncle told us before leaving the table. Yay, school.

… …

**Sorry it took so long. With every chapter we get closer to Rosings…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

…

"Beth! Get up!" Good morning Aunt, lovely to see you this fine day. Rejoice in the fact that it is half six and your voice is the first thing I hear.

"Beth!"

"Alright! I'm up!" I'm not actually, I'm still in bed but at least she'll go away. Knowing that I would have to walk if I didn't get up, I dragged myself out of bed. My uniform is ugly, a green plaid skirt that should be used for making nuclear waste disposal bags and buried deep underground for the next thousand years, a blazer that doesn't let me put my arms up straight and a tie that looks like I have retarded puke down my front. Hey, it's half six in the morning! Don't expect me to be charming. I attacked my hair with a brush, attempting to put it in a plat. Five minutes later I was still trying. I gave up and settled on a bun instead, throwing the brush down on my bed as I left the room. Downstairs Lilly was painting her nails and eating some hideous fluorescent cereal imported from America.

"The Bedfords are going to start school today," she told me loudly.

"Yay for them," I replied. The toaster didn't want to cooperate with me, spitting the slices of bread back out. I tried again.

"Plug," Mia reminded me from her seat by the wall. I flicked the switch and the toaster obligingly swallowed my bread. It took me a minute to find the butter in the fridge. I waited patiently for the appliance to return the toast, which it did, after it had burnt it.

"What would you do if I said that I'd toasted one of those ready-made ham toasties in there?" Lilly asked suddenly. I glared at her.

**Two years… **Then I can get away.

"Buy you a one way ticket to hell, I know a guy who sells them at the station." For a moment she looked ready to believe me.

"You hang out with weird people," Kitty said. Yes Kathryn dear, I am having breakfast with three of them. I almost felt sorry for her, she didn't have more than a handful of brain cells to rub together.

"Ready girls?" my Aunt asked, her newly dyed blond head bouncing around. "I want to all to look your best for the first day of school with the Bedfords!" Did that make sense to you? Thought not. Lilly shook out her hands to dry her nails and smiled up at her mother.

"You'll be the prettiest girl there darling," my Aunt cooed fondly. Kitty hitched her skirt up another inch.

"There's no point Kit, they'll only make you roll it down the second you get there," I warned her. It was no use, of course, she simply shot me a look that told me to get lost and pranced out behind Lilly. Mia, avidly reading something, walked straight into me.

"Sorry," she mumbled. I cast a glance at the title, something depressingly moral about raising teenagers.

"Mia! Beth!" My Aunt doesn't really have much vocabulary in the mornings.

Harriate was waiting outside, ready to climb into the car. For some reason my Aunt doesn't drive so she makes my Uncle drive us all to school before he goes to work. Needless to say, he's never very happy about it. I shoved my bag in the back of the car, climbing in after it. Harriate's shoulder filled my line of vision entirely as she got in next to me. Five girls in a seven seat car, all with an abundance of hair and school bags was a bit of a squash.

"Ready girls?" my Uncle asked wearily, as if he didn't really care. I had a feeling that Kitty wasn't strapped in but I nodded anyway.

"Ow! Mia! Get off my foot!" Lilly yelled.

"I wasn't on your foot! That's Kitty!"

"My hair's caught in the belt!"

"Kitty strap yourself in!" I told her.

"My hair's caught!" she screamed back at me. Harriate managed to ignore the fuss erupting around her and opened the monstrosity of a book that was Clarissa.

_Two years…_

"Lilly, roll your skirt down! Dad, make her roll it down, it's immodest!" Mia whined. Her dad carried on driving in silence. Lilly's skirt was a good two inches higher than normal, which was about twice as far above the knee as mine.

"Oh don't be such a prude Mia! You'll be single until you're thirty at this rate!" her sister snapped. Shock horror, Lilly. I decided not to quote some statistics that showed the average age of marriage was going up into the thirties; I didn't want to traumatise her before we even got to school.

My Uncle pulled into the driveway that ran between the lawn and the playing field, behind a line of cars. Lilly miserably pointed out how everyone else had a more expensive car than we did, something she reminded us of nearly every morning.

"Bye Uncle," I said as we all got out. No-one else said anything to him before leaving. He drove off with a mere nod.

"Let's find Delilah," Harriate suggested and dragged me off towards the locker rooms. Just as we reached the corner a voice called out from behind.

"Harriate! Beth! Morning!" Charlie waved and crossed the drive to us. Caroline and Louisa followed.

"Hi, Charlie," I said. Harriate made a noise that could pass for a greeting. His sisters had identical sneers plastered over their faces as they looked around at the school buildings.

"Hurry up, Darcy!" Charlie called. I glanced at Harriate. Great, Mr Stuck-up was here too. A brown-haired head rose up from the other side of the Jaguar.

"We are not late, Charles, therefore we do not need to hurry." Caroline looked at him as if he'd just said something enormously clever. Charlie rolled his eyes before grinning.

"Good morning, Delilah!" I wondered briefly if he was normally like this at school or just on first days. Delilah appeared at my shoulder.

"Hi guys. Hey Caroline, I looked at the form lists and you're in the same class as the three of us!"

"Delightful," Caroline replied although she didn't look too delighted to me.

"Please tell me that Darcy isn't in our class," Harriate whispered to me. I hope so, Hari, otherwise I'm moving to Israel to live with my grandparents. Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea…

"Darcy and I are in lower 6th," Charlie answered all of our fears. I guess I'll have to settle for a visit at some point. Harriate let out a tiny sigh of relief and I'm sure my grandfather did too.

"I am going to find the 6th Form common room, Charles?" Darcy said as he pranced off.

"Going to find some people worth talking to, unlike us," Harriate muttered. She went off to herself about some guy called Desmond and I tuned out, it was about Douglas Adams.

… …

"So, Beth is that your full name or is it shortened?" Caroline asked loudly from across the form room. Do people not appreciate that Mary Boleyn is about to run off with William Stafford? Can I not get to Anne's execution in peace?

"Bethany," I said. I suppose Beth can be derived from Elizabeth too. I just used the verb to derive? Zarquon! Did I just say zarquon? Harriate's infecting me with her H2g2 obsession!

"Bethany Bennet? Well, your sister is called Kitty, that isn't quite as strange." Caroline's voice seemed to leave a lot unsaid. Having the initials BB may be strange, but Kitty isn't unusual.

"Her name's Kathryn and she's not my sister." I hate explaining things to strangers.

"She's not? Are you adopted then?" Are privacy or decorum not in this girl's vocabulary?

"Kitty's my cousin." I hoped that my voice had some finality in it. Apparently not.

"So you live with your Aunt and Uncle? How strange. Do your parents work a lot then?" I shot Delilah and Harriate a pleading look, begging them to step in.

"Do tell, Beth, friends shouldn't have secrets and I'm sure we're going to be the best of friends." Somehow Caroline, I don't share that hope.

"It's none of your business, Caroline," Harriate said suddenly. I'd have hugged her if it doesn't send her into shock. Caroline smirked slightly before a look of sickly sweetness covered her face. That girl is insufferably pretty in a I'vegotatenfootpoleupmyarse way.

"But if there's something bothering you, you don't need to be shy!" I decided now was the time for the best self-calming technique ever. I replaced Caroline's face with a RuneScape goblin. She looked much better.

"The only thing that's bothering me, Caroline, is your need to know about my life. Tell Greaves I'm here," I snapped, getting up. I didn't want to talk to her anymore, much less sit through ten minutes of form period with her. I just so happened to walk straight into Mr Greaves as I stormed out.

"Going somewhere Beth?" he asked. I guess Mr Greaves is the best teacher in the whole school but he still wasn't who I wanted to walk into as I left his form room.

"Forgot my Spanish books, sir." I hadn't actually but saying: 'I don't want to sit through registration because the new girl asked me why I don't live with my parents and I now hate her guts,' didn't look like a sensible option.

"Go and get them, I'll mark you as present." Any other teacher and I'd have been told tough; I'd just have to face the wrath of my Spanish teacher. I ran straight to the old building that housed the language department. The Spanish classroom was on the second floor, where an old fire escape covered in ivy led to an open window. Throwing my bag up ahead of me I check that no-one was around before climbing up the rusty metal rungs. Our school was old enough to have plenty of hiding places near classrooms; I just waited there until the bell went for the first lesson.

I love my family, despite wanting to get away from them. My Aunt and cousins are easy to love, at a distance. My Uncle is even easier since he never does much to annoy me. My extended family, Aunt Elise and Uncle Edward along with Delilah are amazing (Aunt Phillips not so much…). I know you're waiting for an explanation as well as Caroline is. They're dead.

Can we move on now? Thank you.

The bell went, as bells tend to do. So I climbed in the window (it's round a bend in the corridor so no-one notices) and went off to Spanish. Mia was in my Spanish class, but I was there early.

"Buenos Dias Beth!" Mrs Arroyo said. She's mental, there's no other word for it. I get being enthusiastic about your subject but really? You'd understand if you knew her. I didn't bother keeping up with the rapid line of Spanish that followed. I knew enough to understand her but it took a bit too much effort.

"Si Señora," I answered, not really knowing what the question had been. I was handed a sheet and figured I'd just get on with it. The others trickled in over the next five minutes, Mia coming to sit next to me.

"I heard what Caroline said. She had no right to want to know about those things." This is Mia's way of helping.

"I'm fine, Mia. I'm just glad that she's not in all of my classes."

"About that, she's taking music with you and she's in all of your form classes. I think she may also be in your maths and English sets. Basically apart from Spanish and additional science, you've got her for everything."

Joy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

… …

"So, Bethaneeee, what do you want to be?" Caroline sounded eerily like Andrew at that point. Alive? That's a good thing to be.

"I want to develop new ways of cooking pork and prawns." Mia dissolved into giggles which she tried to hide by drinking but ended up choking instead. Harriate kicked her under the table.

"Really? That's, interesting." Wow, her eyebrows actually disappear into her hair!

"No." The laughing bug went round the lunch table, Amy let out a hysterical shriek, Jack and Andrew began sniggering, even Delilah got it. Until she took pity on Caroline.

"Beth's Jewish; she doesn't eat pork or seafood. It's a joke Caroline, Beth's taking a course in sarcasm." I would have hugged her, if she hadn't have been sitting across the table from me.

"Oh, I see! So, you're Jewish! You don't look it, I mean, the nose." I could have slapped her, if the headmaster hadn't have been ten feet away. Stereotypes, I hate them. There was an awkward silence. I think most awkward silences involve me, I am the Queen of awkward silence creation! That sounded less twelve-year-old-ish in my head.

"Darcy! Come and join us!" Caroline called as her brother and that miscreant friend of his came over. Darcy looked less than pleased at the prospect but Caroline offered him the seat next to her. Charlie squeezed in next to Jack at the end. It was a very full table.

"How was your first day?" Amy asked. Darcy seemed to be able to speak whole paragraphs with just a look.

"As was expected." What's that supposed to mean?

"Beth was just telling me about her plans after school, something about cooking?" Caroline's voice was going up as high as her eyebrows did earlier.

"No, I'm going to be the Irish ambassador to the US, just to confuse their immigration." Born in Israel to an Irish father, now living in England.

"Insufficient funds to enter Canada!" Harriate yelled suddenly. Type it into YouTube. Andrew spilt his water as she made him jump. All three Netherfield residents stared at her.

"That is a highly improbably story and not worth trying to repeat," Darcy replied. All five Nerdfighters stared at him.

"I would love to see Hank try it!" Harriate shot back.

"So that both of them can be blacklisted from Canada? That will make Canadian viewers happy." Darcy watches Vlogbrothers? Darcy watches Vlogbrothers!

"You don't think that he should try it, just for a joke?" This is a weird conversation to be having with _Darcy_.

"His whole life is a joke; one more will make no difference." Oh no, he did not just insult Hank Green! Five Nerdfighters could have killed him right then. An awkward silence not of my making followed.

"So, Charlie, how's your morning been?" Delilah asked. Smiles, flowers and pretty speech are what are now needed methinks.

"It's nice here, the lunch is good too." I stared down at my bowl of soggy vegetables then over at the noodles and meatballs the others were eating. Who cooks noodles in butter? Whether by design or default, they were sitting opposite each other, too far away for me to hear but too close for Jack. He turned and fake-retched into Andrew's shoulder. Caroline was looking at us as if we were a bunch of freaks. Admittedly we were, but that's not the point.

"Beth, you never got to tell me about your family. What does your father do?" Decorum, Caroline, heard of it? Decency? Privacy? A sense of knowing when you're not wanted?

"Pushes up daisies." Harriate, that kick was not needed. She snorted and hid her laugh in her fist. Darcy glared at me. What was that guy's problem?

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Apparently Amy doesn't own the gushing copyright. "You must have been terribly distraught! You poor thing! How awful. Isn't that awful, Charles?" Charlie looked up from where he had been explaining, rather seriously, the qualities of HP sauce to Delilah.

"What was that, sorry?" I caught Delilah's eye and she turned slightly red. HP sauce, really?

"Beth's Dad, it's so sad isn't it." Poor Charlie, he didn't have a clue.

"Your Dad? Sorry, I didn't catch what you girls were saying." Awkwardness is now a vibe, and Charlie gives it off easily.

"Bethaneee's Dad, he's not with us anymore." Okay, so why the odd look to Darcy, Charlie? Actually, the world's biggest PRATT (maybe after Caroline) looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

"So, what A-Levels, Darcy?" Andrew asked. His face snapped back into the perpetual sneer.

"Business, law, economics and English literature." Don't ask the same question back, that would be polite and we can't have that!

"I feel so small, doing graphics, PE, photography and biology," Charlie whined. Oh, no. Photography.

"Photography? What sort of subjects? What type of camera?" Delilah began a very engaging conversation about Nikons.

Lunch ended and we went our separate ways. Delilah walked off to graphics, still talking to Charlie. Darcy disappeared to wedon'tcarewhere, Jack and Andrew vanished and I was left with a fuming (he insulted Hank Green) Harriate, a still giggling Mia (it wasn't that funny) and an annoyed Caroline. I dragged Harriate off to history, something that is easier said than done.

… …

"I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!" I think I've made that quite clear. No? Okay.

"Je le hais! Me el detesto! I hate him!" This is why I need to concentrate in Spanish lessons… I hate William Fitzmason Darcy. He has made my annoyingly religious, slightly depressed and short cousin cry. No-one makes Mia cry, apart from her sisters. Even I've never made her cry, on purpose. She simply asked him if he believed in God and he went and told her he didn't have time to answer the questions of infantile minds like hers. INFANTILE? She's fourteen! That is not infantile! I have to play big sister to my cousins, since they're all younger than me (Mia: five months, Lilly: a year and Kitty: almost two years), so I decided that it was my job to beat him up. The only problem is that he's about half a foot taller than me, is in Lower 6th and looks like he could be on the rugby team. I'm tall, for a girl, medium size width wise and the only sport I don't suck at is Just Dance 2. I settled for screaming my feelings about I'vegotanalienprobeupmyarse Darcy as I walked along the track behind our houses. The scarecrows gave me strange looks. Harriate followed, muttering in Japanese. I began swearing in every language I could manage but ended up telling the hedge to f*** off in Danish.

"Done?" she asked me finally. Harriate, not the hedge.

"Yup, you?" She nodded and we headed back to civilization where cursing in five languages is not acceptable in young girls.

… …

**Find the Doctor Who reference, tell me in a review and I'll give you a prize. Dee, when do you want Tifios back?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

… …

Tell me if this is odd: a fifteen year old girl in a black t-shirt with a ribcage, two hearts and a bowtie on, a white waistcoat and jeans sitting on the grass in her local park, reading Karl Marx Das Capital on a Sunday afternoon. Yes I'm dressed as a homage to the eleventh Doctor and yes, I'm reading a book by the man whose brainchild was the ideas behind communism (in a complicated, twisted way). Is this odd? Apparently so.

So I was sitting there, reading my book and minding my own business when a pair of feet entered my field of vision. Someone had expensive running shoes. I looked up to see Darcy standing over me. I went back to Karl Marx.

"Why are you reading that?" he asked suddenly. No hello, no greeting, no polite conversation. Am I old fashioned?

"It's a book, Darcy. You read them. Do you expect me to sit on it?" The only book made for sitting on is Clarissa because it's the size of a small house.

"Very deep," said Darcy. "You should send that in to the _Reader's Digest._ They've got a page for people like you." I think I may have heard Harriate say that at some point. Something about lunchtime?

"You do not want to be reading that, it is not worth the time." I stared at him. Who does he think he is, telling me what to do with my time?

"Thanks, Darcy, but I think I can work out how best to spend my time myself. Please move on, there is a whole line of people you need to piss off today. You can't keep them waiting." It's a good thing I never intend to be friends with him because I think I just blew my chance. He glared at me.

"Good day, Bethany." Good day? Oh so now we're Lord Pratt of Pratt's Bottom. That is actually a place in Kent. Sorry and Pratt's Bottom residents. I went back to Marx's explanation of property.

… …

"Beth! BETH! Have you heard? The cadets are arriving today! Loads of cute, fit and rich cadets!" Lilly squealed in my ear. I sighed. Cadets. Oh, what joy. Do I care about a rabble of guys in cameo turning up for the summer term? Nope. Lilly and Kitty do though.

"Great." I went and got my coat. She avoids me most of the time but when she's got something to say, I can't get rid of her.

"Promise you won't do anything weird and make me look like I come from a family of weirdoes?" Why? You don't make an effort for me.

"Course Lils, now I really need to leave." I left because I was late and I didn't want to listen to anything else about cadets. Before I had reached the end of the garden path though, my Aunt had called me back.

"If you do happen to see any cadets whilst you're out, tell us everything," she said. I nodded and half ran down the road to Delilah's house.

"Hey, Dee, you coming?" I yelled. A head popped out of her window.

"Yup! Give me one second!" About a minute later we were joined by Harriate and Amy.

"Why are we going?" the local 4th Doctor impersonator asked sullenly.

"Caroline asked us, she's being nice and making friends," Delilah answered. So we went, the four of us, two unwillingly, up the hill to Netherfield.

…

"Delilah! I'm so glad you could come! Oh and Bethaneee too! Amy, Harry-ate, come in!" Caroline's welcomes got less and less enthusiastic as she went down the list. Her house is big. Seriously big. But not pretty like a palace is, not Iwanttolivethere! at all. It's big and over the top and kind of horrible. Tasteful is not a word in this décor's vocabulary. It's more like helloI'mreallyrichandI'mgoingtostuffitdownyourthroat.

"I love your house!" Amy gushed. It's posh, you would.

"It's really nice, Caroline, do you like it here?" Delilah asked as we were led to a toolargetobehomely living room/drawing room.

"Oh, it could be bigger I guess. It's nothing like Darcy's house, Pemberley. Or his town house, for that matter. Still, it's pleasant enough. Here they are, Charles!" Charlie, Louisa and Darcy were sitting around the room. Louisa was texting and looked up briefly, Charlie grinned at us and Darcy didn't bother. He was reading.

"Hi guys!" Hi Charlie. He's actually like a puppy, a really overexcited puppy.

"Hello Charlie." I nodded then left Delilah and the puppy to it. Hanging on the wall was a large painting of some long-dead person. I went over to look at the inscription.

_Charles Gregory Bedford 1946_

I guess it must be Charlie's grandfather. I looked around for some other old paintings.

"It's just him, the Bedfords have not had the money to have portraits done of them for more than two generations," a voice said from behind me. Darcy was looking up from his book.

"Good for him, doing well enough for himself," I answered. He raised an eyebrow then went back to his book. I caught a glimpse of the title. Das Capital.

"You don't want to be reading that, it's not worth the time," I told him. Maybe I said that a little bit loud because everyone looked at me.

"It is worth my time, but perhaps not yours. Young ladies shouldn't interest themselves in politics." What? Okay, I'm going to slap him.

"Why ever not?" I asked sounding really pissed off. "What should _young ladies_ be interested in?"

"Young ladies should read light poetry, be able to recite a small amount, play the piano reasonably well, sing prettily, hold polite conversation, know at least another language, preferably French, be able to paint or draw and be interested in art, music, literature, housekeeping and maybe a sport such as horse-riding. That would make her an attractive and pleasing young woman." We all stared at him.

"Anything else?" Harriate asked. She reads classics, can recite the most of Harry Potter, can play the ukulele, sings Chameleon Circuit, is learning Japanese, hates art unless it's Manga, can only cook cupcakes and doesn't do sport.

"A sense of modesty and decorum." So that counts out Amy, Kitty, Lilly and Caroline then!

"How many girls fit that description?" I asked. Darcy shrugged.

"I know about half a dozen." Half a dozen? Okay, let me meet these amazing superwomen.

"Your sister's one of them," Caroline gushed. Yup, she definitely shares the gushing permit with Amy. Darcy nodded slightly.

"You have a sister? What's her name?" Delilah asked.

"Oh, Georgiana, she's a sweet little thing. How is her piano playing no, Darcy?" Caroline answered immediately. If a voice was a physical thing and not a bunch of waves, hers would have been too sickly to be in the same room as.

"As good as ever," came the curt reply. Darcy glared at us in a way that made me feel like a pane of glass. I shifted slightly but his gaze didn't follow me.

"Beth plays piano too," Amy piped up suddenly. What? Do I? Since when? I mean, I can play a few songs but I'm no Mozart. Mia plays at home sometimes but we usually just ignore her, she only plays depressing stuff.

"Wonderful! Oh, Bethaneee, do play something!" No, Caroline. No, I shan't. Okay, everyone's staring at me now. No, no, no. Somehow I ended up at the piano. What to play? Um… Shoot me now but my repertoire's limited. I started to play the first song that came to mind: In Dreams. Yes, it's the theme to the Fellowship of the Ring… You may want to tune out for this bit.

"When the cold of winter comes,

Starless nights will cover day,

In the veiling of the sun,

We will walk in bitter rain." Delilah sighed and put her head in her hands.

"Really, Beth? Nothing else? Let Harriate have a turn!" Caroline and Darcy looked ready to hear someone else. So Hari sat down. Wait a minute, Hari can't play the piano. Oh this is going to be fun!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

… …

My Uncle owns a business that does stuff. I don't really get it, something about contractors and building and surveyors. Anyway, it's a small business that pays the bills and keeps us all in the local private school (not Eaton or anything but still more than a comprehensive). I guess it must be quite a good business for a family of six to live off of. Except it's not quite enough for my Aunt, she would prefer a slightly bigger house, a slightly better car and for us all to wear slightly more expensive designer brands (I agree with her on the converse part, maybe raybans too but that's about all). There's a catch though, to my Uncle's business. He wrote up some contract with a partner years ago and when he retires, the whole thing goes to this guy and his son. That kind of sucks because the house we live in is all tied up in that too. So when my Uncle reaches 60 (that was the agreed age) everything goes to this guy. You want to know what's the best bit? My Uncle's already 56. So, four more years and my cousins will have nowhere to live. It's not too bad for Mia, she'll be at uni if they can afford it or she can get grants. Ah, why then am I so sure of going to university if I live with them? It's called a will and my parents left me a school fund.

This may explain why my Aunt is preoccupied with marrying us all off, it's because she knows her daughters will be homeless by the time they're twenty. Maybe marry is a bit far considering we're doing our GCSEs so at least *with* someone is what she's aiming for. Of course, she's only a little bit concerned about me. There are several possible reasons for this:

My outstanding intellect shines through and it is obvious that I will end up with a highly paid job mere months after graduating Oxford.

My charming nature means that she is sure I will find a suitable young man without any extra help.

I'm not her kid so she doesn't give a monkey.

She knows that any attempts will simply not work on me and has therefore given up.

I'm inclined to choose the latter option although my ego would like to believe the first two. I am eternally grateful for my Aunt's kindness and I love her dearly. From a distance.

Now that Charlie is old news (still an exciting topic but he is now off-limits and has been left to Delilah) all Lilly and Kitty can talk about is the cadet group. Oh, cadets this and cadets that and look what one of the cadets got me. I have met a few of these cadets. They seem okay, if a bit punch now think later. I'm predisposed to not like them just as I was Charlie. I guess I'm a bit judgemental.

It's Saturday night and I'm watching Life of Brian. Just as they're all singing on the crosses Delilah texts me.

Delilah: I'm invited over to Netherfield. It's raining.

Me: So? You like the rain.

Delilah: Our car is apparently broken.

Me: Ah. How are you getting there then?

Delilah: I'm walking.

Me: You'll get wet.

Delilah: I like the rain.

Me: You'll get really wet and then you'll get sick. You car's not broken; your mum went to Tesco this morning.

Delilah: Apparently it is. A warning light came on and she's waiting for Dad to have a look at it. I don't mind the rain that much. It'll be fun.

Me: You'll get sick. It's part of your mum, Hari's mum and my Aunt's plan to get us all married off. You'll see, it's a cover to get you to spend the night at Netherfield or something.

Delilah: You read too many spy novels.

Me: No-one reads spy novels; you just wait for the film. No, I read too many fantasy novels. See, I bet they have a magic circle and fairies!

Delilah: Oh deer. Go back to killing goblins, Beth. I'm getting wet.

Me: Always look on the bright side of life!

Delilah: Riiight. K then, bai hugs.

Me: Hugs.

So I was slightly worried about Delilah's health and her mum's mental health too until I overheard my Aunt talking about it. Can you believe that she suggested it to Delilah's mum? Actually, I sort of can. What followed was probably the worst storm we've had in years. I couldn't sleep it was so loud. A few telephone lines got pulled down and we had a blackout. Fun fun fun. Nine o'clock the next morning I woke up to find a text waiting for me.

Delilah: I fell over on the way and I'm stuck at Netherfield because the phone line is down and my Mum can't come to get me. Have you seen the flooding?

Me: The only thing I can see right now is the ceiling since I haven't made it out of bed yet. Flooding?

Delilah: Most of Meryton's flooded and the road to Netherfield is like a canal. It's great, just like Venice.

Me: It's great, if you're a duck. So you're camping with Caroline and Charlie. Have fun with that.

Delilah: They're really nice! I'm in the guest suite, it's huge!

Me: Suite? Suite? Who has a guest suite? What happened to the guest room? Or you know a matrass on the floor?

Delilah: It's such a nice house though; it's like living in a hotel. They have a cook, a maid and a housekeeper.

Me: So they don't even clean their own house? Having domestic help when you have 3 teenage children is just weird. I get having help when they're babies and stuff since babies are hard work but when they're grown up? That's just lazy.

Delilah: Don't tell me you wouldn't if you could.

Me: If I could go back to the way great houses were run before WWI then I would and have a household like that. Not in the 21st century.

Delilah: Didn't you guys use to have a cook?

Me: Yeah but she refused to do the Kosher stuff for me, she said it was too complicated. My Aunt didn't like her anyway.

Delilah: Anyway, they're all really nice and it's like being treated like royalty.

Me: Loads of royalty abdicate you know and then lead normal lives.

Delilah: You're cheery this morning.

Me: I just looked out my window. I won't be able to reach Harriate until this stuff clears up.

Delilah: Ah.

Me: You know we may not be able to get to school tomorrow.

Delilah: Somehow I don't think you're too upset.

Me: Are you kidding? This is brilliant! Plus I think the blackouts may have produced some interesting hairstyles. I think my cousins rely on straighteners too much.

Delilah: Haha. We have power here though. I'm sure it will all be sorted out soon though. Got to go, Caroline just called me for breakfast. Bai!

Me: Have fun.

So the flooding got sorted out pretty quickly and we had power again in a few hours. Delilah, however, got the flu which sucked since she was kind of stuck at Netherfield for two days. Harriate and I put on willies and went to see her.

"I'm okay guys, seriously. It's just a cold," she sneezed. Yup, she actually talked mid sneeze. Charlie had been hanging around, keeping her supplied with tea and biscuits. She had introduced him to Starkid and they were watching AVPM together on the massive flat-screen in her room which plugged into his mac. The setup was impressive.

"Hey, you guys are welcome to stay for the day; I don't think Dee should really go out in the rain." Aww, he's so sweet. It's also still raining by the way.

"Kay," Harriate said as she flopped down next to Delilah to watch the TV. I rolled my eyes.

"Bethaneee! It's great that you're here! Hey, do you want to come and help Louisa and me? We're having a clear out!" Caroline burst into the room. Why does she want me to help her? She grabbed my arm and I found myself being led down the hallway towards the massive room where she slept. Louisa didn't acknowledge me at all as she sat cross-legged on the floor surrounded by mountains of clothes. I hoped that they belonged to the both of them, not just Caroline.

"Every summer we have a clear out so that we get rid of everything from last season but it's so much work! You don't mind helping, do you? If you like you can even keep some stuff," Caroline said, smiling as she looked over my attire. Um, green and red striped socks with individual toes, jeans, a t-shirt with a hobbit-hole on and plaits. Not exactly haute couture.

"Uh, okay. What do I do?" I wear stuff that has Tolkien quotes, owls and at my most fashionable maybe a summery dress. Caroline set me to work sorting out a smaller mountain into piles of brands. Gucci, D&G, Chanel, a load of others I'd only seen in the Devil Wears Prada and a large hoodie that amazingly didn't have a brand plastered over it.

"Oh, that's only TopShop, my Aunt thought it was posh but what does she know, she only married a dentist! I guess everyone has relatives they'd rather forget about. You can keep it if you want, I wouldn't be seen dead in it." I think Caroline was trying to be nice but it sort of sounded like I would readily accept what she thought was scum. To be fair it was a very nice hoodie. I thought for a second that maybe suffering through Starkid would be the better option.


End file.
